1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to new organometallic derivatives of selected transition metals and lithium. It also relates to the use of the new transition-metal compounds as components of coordination catalyst systems for polymerizing olefins.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In British Pat. No. 1,336,779 Longoni et al. disclose compounds of the formula ##STR1## where X is nitrogen or phosphorus; M is nickel, palladium, or platinum; R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are the same or different and are alkyl; a is 0 or 1; b is 0 or 1; and a + b is 1. In all specific compounds disclosed in which b is 1, X is phosphorus. The nickel derivative catalyzed the oligomerization and the cyclo-oligomerization of butadiene. Specific compounds disclosed in which a is 1 are the bis(2-dimethylaminomethylphenyl) derivatives of nickel, palladium, and platinum. The nickel and palladium derivatives catalyzed the hydrogenation of cyclohexene.
In Angew. Chem., 75, 94 (1963), Bahr and Zohm disclose reaction of chromium trichloride with 2-diethylaminomethylphenyllithium to give tris(2-diethylaminomethylphenyl)chromium. The product was highly unstable to atmospheric oxygen.
In J. Organometal Chem., 8, (3), p. 527 (1967) Cope and Gourley teach the preparation of 2-dimethylaminomethylphenyllithium and 5-t-butyl-2-dimethylaminomethylphenyllithium from butyllithium and the corresponding benzylamines. Reaction of these lithium derivatives with cobalt(II) chloride gave the corresponding tris(aminomethylphenyl)cobalt(III) compounds. Tris(5-t-butyl-2-dimethylaminomethylphenyl)cobalt(III) is described as "stable when kept at room temperature in air".
In J. Organometal Chem., 39, p. 413 (1972) Longoni et al. teach the preparation of bis(2-dimethylaminomethylphenyl) derivatives of nickel, palladium, and platinum, together with the corresponding diethylamino compounds, from the corresponding lithium derivatives and the metal halides. 2-Diethylaminomethylphenyllithium was prepared from butyllithium and 2-bromo-N,N-diethylbenzylamine.
In J. Organometal Chem., 74, p. 239 (1974) Ytsma et al. teach the preparation of dicyclopentadienyl (2-dimethylaminomethylphenyl)titanium(III) and the corresponding vanadium(III) compound from the dicyclopentadienylmetal(III) chlorides and 2-dimethylaminomethylphenyllithium. They reacted immediately with oxygen to give unidentified products.